ISIS and the Taliban are now openly fighting each other in Afghanistan.

Taliban fighters in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Newsweek/AFP/Getty. 

ISIS and Taliban fighters are now openly fighting each other in Afghanistan. Newsweek. ISIS fighters attacked a high ranking Taliban leader in Sar-e-Pul, killing 15 people. The two attackers also wounded five people in the attack. ISIS in Afghanistan is mostly centered in the east of the country but recently they have been challenging Taliban fighters in the north. It is unclear how many fighters ISIS has in Afghanistan as many fighters defect between ISIS and the Taliban. Both groups are also targeting the government and civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

My Comment:

This isn't an entirely new development as ISIS and the Taliban have been fighting since ISIS moved into Afghanistan. Though both groups are radical Islamists they still have differences. Indeed, ISIS is even more brutal and evil than the Taliban and the Taliban think they go to far. They have had skirmishes in the past but until they have mostly stayed out of each others way. 

Why is that changing now? I think it is probably desperation on the part of ISIS. Globally ISIS has been defeated with most of their holdings in the Middle East have been taken from them. They are a shadow of what they used to be and are no longer the threat they used to be. 

So why attack the Taliban? Because that's about all they can attack. Afghanistan and Pakistan are two of the only countries left where they have significant forces. They consider the Taliban to be infidels, yes, but it's not really about that. It's about getting into the headlines and they know that attacking the Taliban does that. They can't really attack anyone else, other than civilians and the Afghan government, so they attack the Taliban. They desperately need a new headquarters to replace their former holdings in Syria, Iraq and Libya. 

The Taliban may also want to crush ISIS for their own reasons. The Taliban view ISIS as a threat and a group that could derail their war against the Afghan government. They also want to keep the loyalty of the Afghan civilians and understand that protecting them from ISIS can win hearts and minds. 

Of course the biggest winner from this is the Afghan government. The war is not going well as the last few years have seen them suffer unsustainable casualties and they have lost a decent amount of territory to the Taliban and ISIS as well. Indeed, we had to give them some support to prevent the government from collapsing. 

If the Taliban/ISIS war continues there is a chance both sides could cripple each other enough that the Afghan government could take over the country. I don't really see that happening though. ISIS in Afghanistan is too weak to really destroy the Taliban and even if they did that wouldn't solve the Afghan's problem with competence and corruption. Still, this is a positive development.